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NDA agenda for governance next week New Delhi, March 13 The NDA Convener and Janata Dal (United) President, Mr George Fernandes today held discussions on seat-sharing with BJP President, Venkaiah Naidu and General Secretary Pramod Mahajan.
PM remembers Bakht as true nationalist Muslim
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BJP first list likely today
Kashmir cannot be sidelined, says Musharraf
RSS feels good on Ram Temple
issue
Mehbooba flays Vajpayee, Advani on Bill
controversy
SC rejects Mansa Devi Temple tenants’
plea
PIL on HC judges’ appointment rejected
GRAPHIC: THE GENDER
ADVANTAGE
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Seat-sharing: George meets Naidu, Pramod
New Delhi, March 13 Mr Fernandes told mediapersons here today that the JD(U) would release its list of candidates by the end of the coming week. He said the JD(U) wishes to contest one seat in Assam, 25 seats in Bihar, one seat each in Lakhshadweep and Rajasthan and three seats in Uttar Pradesh. The JD(U) wants to field candidates from Anwla, Saleempur and Ghonsi in Uttar Pradesh. “There is nothing like a friendly fight,” said Mr Fernandes while replying to a question on what would happen if the BJP does not give the desired seats in Bihar to the JD(U). Mr Fernandes expressed the confidence that the NDA would win 300 seats in the forthcoming elections.
“By the end of next week, we will release the NDA agenda for governance. Replying to a question, he said that the construction of the temple in Ayodhya had never been an issue of the NDA. He said the President’s Rule was inevitable in Bihar and drew the attention to the observations of the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court on lawlessness in the state. Mr Fernandes who is preparing to recontest from Nalanda held the Congress and the Left Parties responsible for the mess in Bihar. “They have chosen to support Laloo and all that is going on there. Bihar has to be saved. It is a disgrace that in a civilised society the kind of things that happen in Bihar have to be tolerated”. Dismissing the contents of the 55- page charge sheet released by the Congress on Friday, Mr Fernandes said: “I replied to their no-confidence motion in Parliament. I asked them to produce documentary evidence. I’m yet to hear from her (Sonia Gandhi).” |
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PM remembers Bakht as true nationalist Muslim
New Delhi, March 13 Stating that the BJP always strived for improving relations with the Muslims, Mr Vajpayee said leaders like Bakht were instrumental in this. Mr Vajpayee said Bakht would always be known for his candid style of talking. In fact, he had refused to join the first BJP government at the Centre, as he was not pleased with the ministry he was being given. Despite this, he was true to the party and worked tirelessly for it, the PM said. Several senior BJP leaders, including party President M. Venkaiah Naidu, were also present at the meeting. |
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V.C. Shukla, Rafiq Sadiq join
BJP
New Delhi, March 13 Significantly, Mr Shukla, who merged his short-lived Rashtriya Jantantrik Dal with the BJP, openly admitted that the Emergency, during which he was a prominent player, was a “mistake”. “The Emergency was a mistake. Even Indira Gandhi admitted it before her death,” Mr Shukla, who was a close associate of late Sanjay Gandhi, said in response to a question. Replying to questions, Mr Shukla, who had floated the party after the Sharad Pawar-Sangma split in the NCP, said he was joining the BJP as getting a symbol for his party for the coming poll was posing a problem. He also recalled his long-standing “friendship” with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee since the time they joined Parliament together in 1957. Mr Sadiq described the Congress-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir as “anti-people and anti-democratic”. BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu, who handed over the membership slips to both leaders at the party headquarters, said: “This election will mark the ultimate decline of the Congress from the national horizon.” Welcoming both into the party, Mr Naidu said the exodus of “traditional Congressmen” such as Mr Shukla, Mr Sadiq, Mr Bangarappa, Mr Laxman Singh and members of the Nehru-Gandhi family into BJP showed that they had lost faith in the Congress leadership. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and state unit president Nand Kumar Sai were also present. |
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BJP first list likely today
New Delhi, March 13 “The two-day meeting of the central election committee beginning tomorrow will finalise the party’s candidates and first list would be announced by its convener Pramod Mahajan tomorrow evening,” BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu said here. He maintained that there was no problem in ironing out a seat-sharing arrangement between the BJP and the JD(U) and the process would be completed by tomorrow. |
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Kashmir cannot be sidelined, says Musharraf New Delhi, March 13 Addressing the 'India Today' conclave via satellite from Islamabad, he stressed that Kashmiris must join the peace process at some stage to make it "practical and tangible". While maintaining that he was "serious" about the joint statement arrived at in Islamabad in January with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said at the same time India also had to show that it was equally serious about taking the peace process forward. "Let us be pragmatic. Let us learn to accept harsh facts. Kashmir is at the centrestage of Indo-Pak relations and has to be settled in an equitable and honourable way." —
PTI |
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RSS feels good on Ram Temple
issue
Jaipur, March 13 Briefing mediapersons about the second day’s proceedings of the three-day convention of the Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said though he could not reveal more on the issue yet there was definitely a “feel good” over the Ram Mandir issue. “Nobody, neither any Hindu nor Muslim organisation has opposed the Dalai Lama’s effort”, Mr Madhav said and added that the “effort is good.” a solution may come after the elections. When asked about the RSS stand on the other two contentious issues of temples at Mathura and Kashi, the spokesman said, “We have not revised our earlier stand but if progress is there on Ram Mandir then Hindu side will also respond.” He also made it clear that the RSS was not directly involved in the ongoing effort but positive signals had come from both sides. “There is no confrontation. Dialogue has not been opposed by the VHP or any other Hindu organisation. Muslim Personnel Law Board has also welcomed this”, Mr Madhav stressed. The atmosphere is good, the spokesman said and added that “if Muslims are ready for a solution then we will respond “. Dwelling on the deliberations of the three-day meeting, Mr Madhav said the resolution opposing the J&K Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill-2004 had reiterated the Sangh’s old demand of scrapping of Article 370 which was the root cause of all ills in the state. The resolution called upon the people of J&K to rise against the secessionist J&K Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill and ensure that women of the state were not deprived of their Constitutional rights. “ The ABPS also calls upon the countrymen to put pressure on the political parties to work towards abrogating the controversial Article 370, which weakens national integration, and which was originally introduced in our Constitution as a ‘temporary and transient’ provision only”. The second resolution, adopted today, deals with the plight of Reang refugees who are living in camps in Tripura and Assam. The RSS “expresses its deep anguish over the fact that even after the incidents of inhuman atrocities and barbaric uprooting of the Reangs in Mizoram by some extremist outfits were brought to the notice of the governments of Mizoram, Tripura, Assam for six years no concrete steps have been taken to ameliorate their sufferings and get them rehabilitated in their original villages in Mizoram. Considering various aspects of the problem, the ABPS calls upon the Centre and Mizoram Government to immediately come forward to arrange for due protection to the Reangs by constituting proper administrative instruments like Reang Development Council”, the resolution said. |
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Mehbooba flays Vajpayee, Advani on Bill
controversy
New Delhi, March 13 “While they (Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani) tell the world about the peaceful elections in Jammu and Kashmir, they have doubted the integrity of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, which has unanimously passed the Bill,” Ms Mufti said at the India Today Conclave here. Mr Vajpayee had asked Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on the International Women’s Day to immediately sort out the women’s Bill issue while Mr Advani described the Bill as anti-women and atrocious. When asked whether the PDP was willing to sacrifice the alliance government if the Congress opposes the Bill, Ms Mufti evaded a direct reply but used strong words, “We are committed to the Bill and will stand by it.” Ms Mufti stressed that the Bill was not anti-women and pointed out that it did not take away women’s right to property. “What it says is that women married to those residing outside J&K cannot sell their immovable property to outsiders.” She said if anyone was to have a grudge against the Bill it should be the menfolk instead of women. Those women not residing in the state but marrying to the residents will have all rights to property, but the men living outside J and K will not have the same rights if they marry women residents of the state, Ms Mufti explained. Ms Mufti appreciated the Supreme Court and said something needs to be done for the people to have a similar faith in all other departments as they have in the apex court. |
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SC rejects Mansa Devi Temple tenants’
plea
New Delhi, March 13 A Bench comprising Mr Justice R C Lahoti and Mr Justice A R Lakshmanan rejected the appeal of the tenants after Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), whose chairman is the chief administrator of the Shree Mata Mansa Devi Pooja Sthal Board, submitted that shops had been offered to them in the newly built complex. The tenants, who claimed that they had been staying in the temple complex for generations, were demanding the allotment on the “left hand side” of the main road stating that they had been promised the same when the Haryana Government took over the management of the temple under an Act passed in 1991. They had moved the Supreme Court after their suit for the allotment of shops at that particular side was dismissed both by the trial court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court. “At the time of taking over of the temple by the Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, the petitioners were assured that they would be provided shops on the left hand side of the entrance of the temple”, the tenants claimed in the appeal. |
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PIL on HC judges’ appointment rejected
New Delhi, March 13 “The petition though deserves to be dismissed with costs of Rs 50,000 hoping that the petitioner would mend his ways and not hazard such litigations in future, we dismiss the same with costs of Rs 10,000,” a Bench of Mr Justice Doraiswamy Raju and Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat said. The PIL was filed by Dr B. Singh before the appointment of the judges, but he had subsequently sought to withdraw it by moving an application to this effect when the oath of office had been administered to the appointed judge. But the court did not allow its withdrawal stating that it has to be disposed of with a proper order. “The petition...shows to what extent the process of law can be abused. It carries the attractive brand name of ‘public interest litigation’, but the least that can be said is that it smacks of everything what a PIL should not be,” the Bench said, directing the petitioner to deposit the amount of Rs 10,000 with Court Registry within six weeks so that it be sent to the Legal Services Authority’s account. Taking strong exception to moving of such petitions, especially questioning the appointment of a judge, the court said “it is not the ipse dixit of any individual to say as to whether the recommended person is fit for appointment, by making wild allegations which has become common these days and have resulted in delaying the appointment of judges, though a large number of vacancies exist in various High Courts.” The apex court, which gives approval for the appointment of High Court judges, said, “All possible care and caution is exercised before the appointment of a judge is made.” |
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New Delhi, March 13
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